Tale of the Cat Stakes attracts sharp group

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – As a trainer, what do you do if you have a talented sprinter who has pretty much run through his allowance conditions but is a notch below graded stakes caliber? You enter him in Wednesday’s $135,000 Tale of the Cat at Saratoga, for horses who have not won a graded stakes.

The Tale of the Cat lured an extremely well-matched field of five that includes Mr Phil, a winner of three straight allowances races before running afoul of division leader Jackie’s Warrior last time in the Grade 2 True North; Awesome Gerry, who won a pair of allowance races in Kentucky during the spring before finishing third in the Hanshin Stakes last month at Churchill; and likely favorite Southern District, who also has registered three straight allowance victories heading into his stakes debut Wednesday.

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Trainer Rob Atras said his options with Mr Phil were limited coming off the last of his recent allowance victories, which is why he wound up facing the reigning sprint champ Jackie’s Warrior in the True North. The other option, Atras said, was to face Life Is Good in the John Nerud Stakes.

Mr Phil finished fifth, beaten 12 1/2 lengths, in the True North.

“Obviously, it didn’t work out, although his hand was forced some when drawing inside,” Atras said. “This race is by no means an easy spot, but it certainly fits him a lot better and I’m happy he drew the outside. It will give him more options. I don’t necessarily think he’s a need-the-lead type.”

Awesome Gerry has shown dramatic improvement over his last three starts, with his two most recent victories coming at the same seven-furlong distance as the Tale of the Cat. He did not have the cleanest of trips stretching to a mile in the Hanshin.

“He was in between horses last time and took some dirt, which he doesn’t like at all,” trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said. “He kind of lost his form last year, but turned it around once we realized he doesn’t want to be rushed early, winning that allowance race so impressively at Keeneland. Hopefully, this race will set up for him with some early pace and he can get a spot in the clear this time.”

Southern District, trained by Chad Brown, is another who has really stepped up his game over his last three starts, having won those races by a combined 10 3/4 lengths while twice earning a triple-digit Beyer Speed Figure. The key question is whether he can get up at seven-eighths after winning at distances ranging from a mile to 1 1/16 miles during his streak.

The well-travelled Isolate also is in good form, having won three of his last four starts, and figures to be part of the early running from the rail, along with Repo Rocks and Mr Phil.